Plectrum attachment for pianos



F. BINGAMAN. y PLECTRUM ATTACHMENT FOR PIANOS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT- 23, i919.

Patented Apr. 19,1921;

Liv.

gums/wim F. BINGAMAN.

PLECTRUM ATTACHMENT FOR PIANOS.

APPLICATION FILED ocT. 2s. 1919.

1,374,979. Patented Apr. 19, 1921' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK BINGAMAN,. OF PARKERSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA.

PLECTRUM ATTACHME T FOR PIANOS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 19, 1921.

Application led `October 23, 1919. Serial No. 332,729.

To all 'whom t may concern Be it known that I, FRANK BINGAMAN, a citizen of the United States, residinof at Parkersburg, in the county of Wood, tate of West Virginia, have invented certain new and usefullmprovements in Plectrum Attachments for Pianos; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such 4as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in attachments for pianos, or like stringed instruments andparticularly to attachments for imitating the picking of a guitar or harp.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved plectrumV and means for supporting the same in proximity to the string for engagement by the hammer of the regular piano action.' l

Another object is to provide a novel and` improved means for moving the plectrum carrying support into and out of operative 1 position with respect to the hammer and string, so that said attachment, when moved out of operative position, will not interfere with the ordinary playing of the piano.

A further object resides in the provision of `novel and improved means whereby the plectrumv is capable of being easily and quickly adjusted intol proper relation with the strin'gsothat it will pick the string in the desired manner.

Other objectsand advantages will be apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 isa front elevation of the interior of a piano, showing the invention in position thereon. Y

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 through the upper portion of the piano action, showing the plectrum inside elevation.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1 through the plectrum.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2,

through the plectrum, showing the relative position of the plectrum and the piano string, the position of the plectrum, when struck by the hammer being shown in dotted lines.

.Fig 5 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1, just above the hammer rail. l

Figure 6 is an elevation of the supporting block for the attachment viewed from the Vright in Fig. 1, a portion of the attachment casing of the piano, and 11 one of the bolts.

with which the piano action frame is secured to the piano. the said end 10 of the case is a block 12, the

, upper and lowerl edge faces of which are formed with longitudinal grooves13. This block is disposed within a transverse recess 111 formed in the inner face of the lower end of aY vertical block 15, said recess having ribs in its upper and lower walls for engagement in said grooves whereby the block 15.

Secured to the inner face of is arranged for slidable movement with re- "t spect to the block, and in a direction toward 'and away from the back of the piano case.

Secured to the back of the ease, adjacent the upper and lower ends of the block 15, arey the blocks 16, each having a leaf spring 17 carried thereby which extends forwardly therefromuand, engages with they adjacent edge face of the block 15, for the purpose of normally urging the said block toward the front o-f the piano, with a result which will be later set forth herein. In the outer portion of the lower end of the block 15, there is formed a transverse slot 18, and disposed through this slot and engagedin the block 12, is a screw 12 which is adapted to hold the block 15 in adjustedV position with respect to the block 12. On the inner exposed face of the remaining str-ings.

of the block 15 there is secured a guide strap 19 and slidalole through this guide is the upper portion of a `flat metal rod 20, the upper end being turned outwardly at right angles, as shown at 21, while the lower end is turned outwardly at right angles at 22. The upper portion 21 has a block of wood 23 secured to its upper face, and secured to the upper face of the wood is a piece of felt 24, The lower portion of the rod 20 is formed with a longitudinal slot 25 which receives the before-mentioned screw 12, whereby said rod may be firmly clamped against the block, at the desired elevation. 0n one end of the block j12, vthere is secured an upwardly extending strip 26, the upper end of which is formed lwith a thickened -portion 27 having a threaded opening therethrough for the reception Vofthe screw 28. Onfthe same side ofthe block 15,'above the strip 26 is secured a strip 29, the lower end of which is bifurcatedat 30 for straddling engagement with the Vinner end of'the screw 28 and within the circumferential groove formed in said end of the screw. The lower or bifurcated Vend of the strip 29 is offset from the face of the block, and by `turning .the said screw the block 15 can be moved longitudinally on the block 12, as will be readilyunderstood.

The .upper end of the block 15 is formed with a longitudinal kerf 31 .the faces of which are lined with apiece of cloth 32. A

Vpivoted button 33 is mounted on the upper end of the block 15 and is arranged -to be swung .over the upper end of the kerf to close the same, for the purpose which will appear herein.

Wlhile I rhave not shown it in thedraw- Y ings, .it will loe understood ythat the members mounted on the end wall .of the piano case are duplicated at .the other end of the case. Angle bars 34and 34 and34 extend in longitudinal alinement throughout the entire length of the piano, the outer ends of' the vertical portions of the .bars 34 and 34 Vbeing ,disposed in the kerfsof the-blocks 15, the end portions of the horizontal member of the said angle bars 34 and 34 being cut off to permit the ends of their vertical parts to bar 34 .extends overthe bassregister of the i piano while thev bars34 and 34 extend over .the middle and treble registers, respectively. The inner ends'of the bars 34 and 34 areoffset with respect to each other the bar 34 being arranged afshort distance out-V wardly from the bar .34 beca-use the bass stringsof` the 1piano are arranged outwardly These ends are connected by a plate 39 which has its ends offset in .opposite directions as yclearly seen in the drawing.

in Fig. 5. The ends of the bars 34 and 34 are connected by the plate 50. A metal plate 37 has one end bent into a hook 38 which extends at right Vangles to the end of the plate, said hook being engaged on the outer edge of the horizontal portion of the angle bar, while a screw 38 is engaged .through the upper portion of the hook for biting engagement with the angle bar to hold the said plate in proper position thereon. The lower portion of this plate is formed with a .rectangular-.opening 39 around which extends the flange 40, said flange being only formed on three sides, or rather two sides and one end of the opening, asclearly seen Below the apertured p0rtion of the plate 37 ythere is secured, by

means of the screws 41, the plate 42, said plate Yhaving an opening of the same shape and dimensions as the opening 39, and depending from the opposite sides of this opening 43 are .the flanges 44. A substantially L-shaped member 37 formed of hard rubber, vulcanite, or ythe like substance, is disposed within the said openings and is mounted for Yvertical sliding and kpivotal movement lthrough the'openings on'the pin 45 which 'extends transversely of the lower inafter, and has the 'slot 55 through which Vsaid pin 45 extends. The inner face of the vertical portion of the member 37 is formed with a recess 46 which receives the outer Aend of the coil spring 47 -theother end of said spring being secured to the piece of felt 48 which is disposed between the plates 37 and 42. To avoid noise of athe parte, theyinner faces of the flange 40 and the flanges 44',.are lined Awith buckskin 49.

Thestrings of the Vbass register of the piano incline downwardly toward the op-V positeend ofthe piano, while the stringsof the middle register incline downwardly in the opposite direction. The strings of .the upper ltreble are approximately:vertical. This arrangement of y'the strings makes it necessary to so offset :the lower portions xof the plates 37 th at they be in parallel relation for the middle register, and one for the.

treble register. These -sections of `:the bar are connected by thesplice bars 50,1bymeans of the bolts 5l. The plates 37V of the bass register have their lower ends Vefztending the angle bar is .made up straight downwardly. YDisposed vthrough M each of the splice bars 39 and 50 is a Y-bolt ,f

Y-head stra'ddl-ing the bolt 11to prevent the f entire attachment from dropping down too Mounted beneath the keyboard of the iano is a pivoted lever 54 which is pivota ly connected to the intermediate portion of a longitudinally extending bar 55. Extending upwardly from the ends of the bar 55 and integrally connected thereto, are the lifting rods 56, the upper ends of said rods engaging beneath the horizontal portions 21 of the members 2O.` The bar 55 and the rods 56 form an integral yoke. Thus when the lever is moved downwardly the angle bar will be raised and all of the plectrum member carrying plates will be slipped upwardlyso that the hammers of the action can strike the strings of the piano.' The lever is arranged to be swung. to one sid'e and engaged in a notch 57 to hold the same against retrograde movement and the lowering of the entire mechanism. When the player desires to use the plectrum mechanism, the lever is moved from its notch and the plectrum mechanism permitted to drop so that all of the plates 37 will be disposed between the hammers and the strings. Thus when any of the keys of the piano are struck the hammers will strike the upper or outer portions of the plectrums 37', move them inwardly toward the strings and rock the plectrums on their pivots with the result that their inner portions will pick the strings and cause the vibration thereof. This will give the effect of a guitar or harp. Thus when a hammer strikes a plectrum, the plectrum first slides inwardly and swings on the pin 45 to wipe its inner end across the string. When released the plectrum first slides outwardly away from the string and then moves on its pivot to normal position. Thus the plectrum cannot wipe over the string during its return to normal position.

Attention is particularly called to the fact that the entire attachment can be installed in any upright piano without any modifications to the piano or the action thereof, the only thing being necessary is to screw the blocks 12 to the end walls of the piano case, and engage the Y-members with the action frame bolts.

What is claimed is:

1. A plectrum attachment for a piano comprising end supports adapted or attachment to the end walls of the interior of the casing of a piano, said supports being vertically slotted, a longitudinal bar having its ends slidable in the slots of the supports, piano-string-picking elements on the said bar arranged to be struck by the hammers of the piano, vertically slidable means on the supports engaging the said bar and a manually operable yoke having its arms operatively engaged with the vertically movement between the slidable means for raising and lowering the said bar to dispose the -string picking elements in and out of the pathv of the saidy vertical slots in their upper ends and arranged to be secured within the ends-of thecasing of a piano for vertical slidable movement, a bar having its ends disposed in the slots of. the supports for vertical slidable hanmers and strings of a piano, string picking means on the bar, and a yoke having vertical arms engaged with the supports and manually operable to raise and lower the bar to dispose the string picking means out of and into the path of the hammers.

3. A supporting means for a plectrum attachment for a piano comprising blocks each having a slot in its upper end, a plectrum supporting bar having its ends vertically slidable in the slots of said blocks, blocks having grooves in their upper and lower faces, each of the first-named blocks having a transverse recess with ribs in the upper and lower walls thereof, each of said recesses receiving one of the second-named blocks therein for slidable movement of the first block and the ribs for engagement in said grooves, an angular U-shaped plate secured to each of the first-named blocks and vertically slidable thereon, and a yoke having vertical anms engaging with a portion of each U-shaped plate, each of said U- shaped plates supporting one end of the plectrum supporting bar.

4. A plectrum for a piano comprising a base arranged to be supported in position to be moved into and `out of the path of a hammer of a piano, and to be struck thereby, said base having an opening therethrough, an angular string-picking member pivotally and slidably supported on the base and extending through said opening, and a spring between the picking member and the base whereby when said member is struck by a hammer the initial movement urges the member inwardly into position to engage a string and the final movement rocks the member and engages the member with the spring, such movements being in the same order toward normal position whereby the picking member is prevented from being dragged across the string during its movement to normal position.

5. A plectrum for a piano comprising a base plate having an elongated opening therein, supports on the base at the sides of l between the other arm of the angle member Vment toward normal position being piva-nd the ibase plate, whereby the initial f0rotal. 10 Ward movement v.of the angle member Will In testimony whereof, I aiX my signabe slidable into position for engagement ture, in the presence of ltWo Witnesses.

With va string and .the inal movement piv- 'FRANK BINGAMAN.

otal to piek the string, the initial movement Witnesses: Y

toward no1-mal Aposition being sliclable out YD. W. CAMPBELL,

of the pathof ithestring and-the final move- W. JB. Woon. 

